Today while watering I took a look at the oddly bent over Opuntia ficus-indica (Prickly Pear) by the information kiosk. Looks like it either got too heavy to hold itself up, or someone was harvesting fruit off it - anyway, a large part of it is broken.I sawed off a dozen pads and put them in the compost bin - theoretically they should compos down nicely. If not, they'll be a painful annoyance! Lots more to saw off - if I do a few every couple days it should be done in no time. Hope the leather gloves hold up to the spines!
The last time I dealt with an Opuntia like that, I got thorned bigtime deep into a middle knuckle; it swelled up so badly, for SO long (2 months!)it looked like an gnarled, arthritic joint!
ReplyDeleteBe VERY careful! I don't deal with that species without serious double gloves these days!!
Oh don't worry! I have developed good opuntia technique, including having duct tape handy to remove the smaller spines. They are nasty!
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